Trial reportPsychopharmacology2013
Faster but not smarter: effects of caffeine and caffeine withdrawal on alertness and performance.
Trial report in Psychopharmacology, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
38 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 115 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Caffeinated Brain Part 1: The Effects of Caffeine on Event-Related Potentials (ERPs)-A Systematic and Mechanistic Review.Nutrients · 2026Pooled it
- The Effects of Caffeine on Anxiety Behavior in Healthy Individuals: A Systematic Review of the Literature.Stress and health : journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress · 2026Pooled it
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of the acute effect of caffeine on attention.Psychopharmacology · 2025Pooled it
- Acute Caffeine Intake Does Not Modulate Active or Reactive Inhibition in Non-Clinical Young Adults, and ADHD Symptoms Do Not Moderate Its Effects.Human psychopharmacology · 2026Trial
- Differential effects of caffeine, acute aerobic exercise, and placebo on mental fatigue.PloS one · 2026Trial
- Concurrent consumption of cocoa flavanols and caffeine does not acutely modulate working memory and attention.European journal of nutrition · 2024Trial
- Caffeine supplementation improves the cognitive abilities and shooting performance of elite e-sports players: a crossover trial.Scientific reports · 2024Trial
- Supplementation of caffeine and sodium bicarbonate together could not improve performance and performance-related factors in CrossFit participants: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition · 2023Trial
- Acute drug effects differentially predict desire to take dextroamphetamine again for work and recreation.Psychopharmacology · 2021Trial
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- Caffeine improves reaction time, vigilance and logical reasoning during extended periods with restricted opportunities for sleep.Psychopharmacology · 2015Trial
- Article
- The impact of a 20-h rotating watch schedule on cognitive and mood states in submarine operations.Journal of sleep research · 2025Article
- Comprehensive machine learning assessment of zebrafish behaviour and biochemical markers in response to caffeine exposure.Ecotoxicology (London, England) · 2025Article
- Editorial on Vital-Lopez et al. (2024).Sleep · 2024Article
- Beverages - a scoping review for Nordic Nutrition Recommendations 2023.Food & nutrition research · 2024Article
- Caffeine improves the shooting performance and reaction time of first-person shooter esports players: a dose-response study.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2024Article
- Adenosine, caffeine, and sleep-wake regulation: state of the science and perspectives.Journal of sleep research · 2022Review
- Impact of Caffeine on Alzheimer's Disease Pathogenesis-Protective or Risk Factor?Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
rationaleDespite 100 years of psychopharmacological research, the extent to which caffeine consumption benefits human functioning remains unclear.
objectivesTo measure the effects of overnight caffeine abstinence and caffeine administration as a function of level of habitual caffeine consumption.
methodsMedium-high (n = 212) and non-low (n = 157) caffeine consumers completed self-report measures and computer-based tasks before (starting at 10:30 AM) and after double-blind treatment with either caffeine (100 mg, then 150 mg) or placebo. The first treatment was given at 11:15 AM and the second at 12:45 PM, with post-treatment measures repeated twice between 1:45 PM and 3:30 PM.
resultsCaffeine withdrawal was associated with some detrimental effects at 10:30 AM, and more severe effects, including greater sleepiness, lower mental alertness, and poorer performance on simple reaction time, choice reaction time and recognition memory tasks, later in the afternoon. Caffeine improved these measures in medium-high consumers but, apart from decreasing sleepiness, had little effect on them in non-low consumers. The failure of caffeine to increase mental alertness and improve mental performance in non-low consumers was related to a substantial caffeine-induced increase in anxiety/jitteriness that offset the benefit of decreased sleepiness. Caffeine enhanced physical performance (faster tapping speed and faster simple and choice reaction times) in both medium-high and non-low consumers.
conclusionsWhile caffeine benefits motor performance and tolerance develops to its tendency to increase anxiety/jitteriness, tolerance to its effects on sleepiness means that frequent consumption fails to enhance mental alertness and mental performance.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.